Officials claim Chechnya's election a step to normalcy

November 28, 2005

GROZNY, Russia (AP) -- Chechens voted Sunday in their first parliamentary elections since Russia sent troops back to the Caucasus region six years ago to crush a separatist insurgency. Moscow has touted the vote as the latest step toward restoring normalcy in the violence-wracked southern republic, but critics fear the new parliament will amount to a rubber stamp for the Chechnya's Kremlin-backed governing elites. Few international observers were monitoring the election for flaws that have marred three previous votes. Many of the republic's 600,000 voters said they hoped the new parliament would cement stability in a region plagued by widespread unemployment, a shattered infrastructure and lingering violence between separatist rebels and Russian forces. There were 350 candidates vying for 58 seats in the two-chamber parliament, with most of Russia's main national political parties fielding contenders. Electoral authorities said preliminary turnout was 57 percent, the Ekho Moskvy radio reported. But the pro-separatist KavkazCenter Web site claimed turnout was lower -- between 5 and 7 percent -- and denounced the elections as a "farce."